WikiLeaks - Hero or Troublemaker?

[Will]

I hope we get to see the financial institutions responsible for the collapse finally held responsible by Wikileaks' next leak. 100,000 pages of internal Goldman memos would go a long way for helping to push for financial reform.

[Thumpalumpacus]

After thinking about this a little, I think wikileaks is being really stupid about this.  There are certainly some things that need to be aired in this mass of documents, but by dumping it all at once they not only surrender their power to influence events, but they sell out their source -- in this case, he's already in custody and has been since April -- but who is going to chance doing this again?  The Pentagon and the State Dept are revamping distro channels to make sure the flow of diplomatic documents does not get so low in the ranks again, which only reduces transparency.

Had WL instead leaked slowly, and spread the leaks out through various outlets, they'd have provided their source cover, confounded the "security" apparatus as to weaknesses, and maintained a channel of information that will now be shut off.  Someone wasn't thinking at all on the operational level.

No wonder they're moving on to banks.  They've killed their government goose.  Pity that they're so stupid as to announce it, though.

[Sophus]

After thinking about this a little, I think wikileaks is being really stupid about this.  There are certainly some things that need to be aired in this mass of documents, but by dumping it all at once they not only surrender their power to influence events, but they sell out their source -- in this case, he's already in custody and has been since April -- but who is going to chance doing this again?  The Pentagon and the State Dept are revamping distro channels to make sure the flow of diplomatic documents does not get so low in the ranks again, which only reduces transparency.

Had WL instead leaked slowly, and spread the leaks out through various outlets, they'd have provided their source cover, confounded the "security" apparatus as to weaknesses, and maintained a channel of information that will now be shut off.  Someone wasn't thinking at all on the operational level.

No wonder they're moving on to banks.  They've killed their government goose.  Pity that they're so stupid as to announce it, though.

Yes, I completely agree (although the bank information was, I believe, just a portion of previous documents they've received and had to sort through). It also forces the media to focus more on what WikiLeaks is doing instead of the individual scandals, which could be getting a lot more attention. Instead we hear the media talking about how "we are already know the government is corrupt. This flood of information oesn't prove anything new."  

[karadan]

So, Interpol are after him:

http://news.scotsman.com/world/WikiLeak ... 6646489.jp

Smear campaign or dirty bastard?

 

[Sophus]

I'm no expert but judging from Julian's interviews about these allegations he doesn't come across as being overly protective like someone guilty of these crimes might act. If I had to guess I'd say he's probably innocent. Then again I'm not really the best judge when it comes to these sorts of things.

[Asmodean]

Me, I don't lose any sleep over whether or not he should be thrown in jail for whatever reason. Russians and I, we are pretty much on the same page in regard to Assange, our response pretty much being "Oh.   " in regard to the leaks, and the rape thing... A matter for local police wherever that happened.

[The Magic Pudding]

Russians and I, we are pretty much on the same page in regard to Assange, our response pretty much being "Oh.  

Do the Russians even pretend to hide what they are?
They don't go to much trouble to make the deaths of journalists look accidental.
Do they use a subtle poison on Yushchenko, no they make a scary example via dioxin.
It must take some practice to produce such spectacular results.
And there's always radioactive polonium for variety.
It's hard to create that Stalinist pall of fear and be secretive about it.

[Sophus]

Does it seem like WikiLeaks is being criticized now more than ever? Staying online has certainly gotten harder for them. I wonder why this batch of leaks is causing them more trouble than the previous ones.

[karadan]

Assange said that among some of the material they've received, UFO's have been mentioned...

 

[Sophus]

Assange said that among some of the material they've received, UFO's have been mentioned...

 

Well, technically UFO's aren't as exciting as science fiction makes them out to be.

[karadan]

Assange said that among some of the material they've received, UFO's have been mentioned...

 

Well, technically UFO's aren't as exciting as science fiction makes them out to be.

Haha, unless they have actual aliens driving them :p

[Asmodean]

Do the Russians even pretend to hide what they are?

Of course. Every nation I know of tends to. It's just that they show a lot of things most other governments would try to hide.

They don't go to much trouble to make the deaths of journalists look accidental.

Why would they..? Internal affairs, so they can pretty much do what they want. They also have oil and gas, which means Europe will pretty much let them carry on with no more than mutters of displeasure. They ALSO have enough nukes and will to use them to get rid of the Earth, the Moon and probably a couple of asteroids while at it, so no sane government would want to attack them.

Do they use a subtle poison on Yushchenko, no they make a scary example via dioxin.

What can I say... They has STYLE  

It's hard to create that Stalinist pall of fear and be secretive about it.

Especially when you don't need to be secretive.

[Sophus]

Here we go! Christopher Hitchens and I don't usually see political issues eye to eye. Here's his weekly Slate column titled Turn Yourself In, Julian Assange: The WikiLeaks founder is an unscrupulous megalomaniac with a political agenda. I have to say, the more I read of Hitchens the more I notice how fond of ad hominem's he is. So what if Assange is egotistical? Some of the greatest most talented people are, and historically have been. So what if he has strong political beliefs on the war? Does Hitchens not?

[The Magic Pudding]

The rape accusations are looking weak.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101118/wl ... 1118185047

"Both the prosecutor and the defence agree that it was an incident of consensual sex where the condom broke. They are saying that amounts to rape, we are saying it doesn't," he added.

[OldGit]

Voltaire might have said - if there were no criminal charges against Assange, it would be necessary to invent some.